That voice shattered the silence of the performance.
And like an Insect Swarm spiraling out of control, once the quiet atmosphere broke, the surging clamor seemed to unleash the sinful beasts lurking in their hearts.
This was no longer a mere performance.
It had become a bidding war among bloated, writhing monsters concealed beneath splendid clothes and polished appearances, and the merchandise was the caged bird dancing onstage.
"Seven thousand pounds!"
"Eight thousand pounds!"
The gentlemen's shouts drowned out the magnificent melody onstage.
The Doll in the cage continued to dance gracefully. Her expression remained serene, her eyes ethereal. Beneath her long lashes, her gentle dance seemed like a fate already ordained. In this age of steam, on this stage where old and new converged, she was the first perfect Doll created through the union of humanity, industry, and the occult.
Aristocrats, capitalists, politicians-the powerful members of high society riding the crest of their age.
They all liked new things.
Once worldly desires grew tiresome and could no longer offer them even the barest satisfaction, they sought newer, more forbidden things to satisfy the wickedness in their hearts.
And here.
You would possess this era's first perfect Doll. You would own this culmination of flesh and industry, as though...
You were pinning the entire age beneath your feet in all your depravity.
The performance ended.
The Doll in the cage lifted her skirts and curtsied to everyone in the audience, marking the perfect conclusion to the performance. Beyond the lights lay the feverish, greedy gaze of the old man leaning on his cane. It held a hunger for money, as well as the satisfaction of seeing his perfect creation acknowledged. But he did not care about her future fate.
Nor did he need to.
Because however exquisite an object might